Embassy Court

Embassy Court
Embassy Court seen from the southeast
Location	Kings Road, Brighton BN1 2PY, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, United Kingdom
Coordinates	50°49′23″N 0°09′23″W / 50.8230°N 0.1564°W / 50.8230; -0.1564
Height	110 feet (34 m)
Built	1934–35
Built for	Maddox Properties
Restored	2004–05
Restored by	Conran and Partners; Makers Ltd
Architect	Wells Coates
Architectural style(s)	Art Deco/Modernist
Owner	Bluestorm Ltd
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	Embassy Court
Designated	19 July 1984
Reference no.	1381645
Location within Brighton and Hove

Embassy Court is an 11-storey block of flats on the seafront in Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It has been listed at Grade II* by English Heritage. Wells Coates' "extremely controversial"^[1] piece of Modernist architecture has "divided opinion across the city" since its completion in 1935, and continues to generate strong feelings among residents, architectural historians and conservationists.^[2]

The flats were originally let at high rents to wealthy residents, including Max Miller, Rex Harrison and Terence Rattigan, and features such as enclosed balconies and England's first penthouse suites made the 72-apartment, 11-storey building "one of the most desirable and sought-after addresses in Brighton and Hove".^[3] Its fortunes changed dramatically from the 1970s, though, as a succession of complex court cases set leaseholders, freeholders and landlords against each other while the building rotted. By the start of the 21st century it was an "embarrassing eyesore" which was close to being demolished, despite its listed status. Proposals to refurbish the block came to nothing until the court cases concluded in 2004 and Sir Terence Conran's architectural practice was brought in. With an investment of £5 million, raised entirely by the residents, Embassy Court was overhauled: by 2006 it had been restored to its original status as a high-class residence, in contrast to its poor late-20th-century reputation.^[4]